The following press release was intended to be sent
on Friday October 14, the day of Pitt’s Homecoming Week fireworks
display. However, on Thursday evening there was a medical family emergency.
Action was to be taken in regard to the following concerns, and the
subsequent information may be used as future reference.

PRESS RELEASE

I will be protesting at
Pitt's Homecoming Week fireworks display at the site of Bigelow Blvd.
and Forbes Avenue between the hours of 5:30 and 7:00 pm. Signage at the
protest will simply read: Fireworks in Oakland Must End/ oaklanddignity.com
Link 5. That link refers to solutions that we have for our Community's
problems.

Last year twenty-one residents on Boundary Street
signed a petition to move the fireworks display to a venue outside of
Oakland. Most of those individuals are elderly long-time residents and
descendants of settlers who were in Oakland prior to the arrival of the
University of Pittsburgh. Their action has resulted in four changes by
the Pitt administration:

1) Last year, for the first time in 20 years,
flyers were placed on the front doors of residents to notify them of
the fireworks display. In 2009, many elderly residents who went to sleep
before 9:30 pm were awakened by the exploding firebombs, and did not
know what was happening. I experienced this firsthand. My parents' home
shook and the sound from the exploding firebombs resonated through the
house into my body. I imagine that many others shared this alarming occurrence.

2)
Because of the protest, Pitt removed from its fireworks product list
all 4" Bombshells (the description on the product list). We believe
that the change resulted from the results of our investigation, which
showed that the setup for the fireworks display in 2009 was illegal.
The law states there must be a safe zone of 100 feet for every 1" shell.
However, the setup zone for that year, which used 4" Bombshells,
was within 300 feet of the nearest home. The fireworks display was illegally
placing both lives and residences in legitimate danger. Pitt kept the
3" Bombshells for the 2010 fireworks display, and moved the setup
zone further back into Mazeroski Field.

3) This year Pitt has changed
the fireworks display to 9:00 pm from the traditional 9:30 pm timeslot.

4)
Also, this year Pitt removed the 3" Bombshells from its product
list. I visited the Deputy Fire Chief and saw the product list for this
year. I noticed on the product list that there were no 4" or 3" Bombshells,
and the Deputy Fire Chief mentioned that this year there are no "concussion" fireworks.

Her "concussion" description
is very appropriate. The exploding firebombs could very easily affect
an elderly person's hearing and even possibly his or her heart. For 20
years, the University administration was indifferent to and unfazed by
the health concerns and needs of these people, as well as that of the
nearby hospital patients.

In 2009, there were a total of 670 Bombshells
(concussion fireworks) of 3" and
4". These accounted for 43% of the entire 1,555 fireworks. This
is merely an example of what residents experienced for the first 20 years
of Pitt's Homecoming fireworks display.

This year, the exclusion of 3" and
4" Bombshells, will lead to an increase in quantity of fireworks.
Pitt is adding over 700 fireworks for a total of approximately 2,300
fireworks. The fireworks for this year may be legally permissible, but
the display is still morally wrong.

Pitt's accommodating changes do not
placate us and do not annul the danger this Homecoming Week event presents
to our neighborhood. The Pitt administration cannot control the horrific
binge drinking problem in our community (oaklanddignity.com Link 4), and the
homecoming Week event exacerbates the alcohol abuse, public intoxication,
and drunk and disorderly conduct. Some residents have even found it necessary
to hire off-duty police officers to protect their life and property during
Homecoming Week.

We have suggested to Chancellor Mark Nordenberg that
moving this to Heinz Field would be an alternative allowing for greater
safety in our community. We will continue in our efforts to move this
event to a venue outside of Oakland.